Dear Serenity
by miss mari ma
Summary: PREQUEL SEQUEL! Serenity has been given the diaries her parents wrote before they died. As she reads, she looks into what happened during the Ishvalan Civil War. The more she reads, she understands why they wanted their daughter's life to be spared.
1. Chapter 1

_When ones life ends, what does a person exactly leave behind for their friends and families to see or have? Money? Their special antiques? Clothing in which they wore when they were twelve years old? Items that were left behind by the deceased could become heirlooms and will be passed down to the living legacies. For all we know, it could be anything. So, what does a married couple leave behind after a tragic death? Two written memories and a child who became a fine young woman twenty years later. The memories are written in two journals; one is written by her mother and the other by her father. Both who are witnesses of the Ishvalan Civil War and a forbidden love have wrote their memories within those pages. These pages haven't been looked at after their deaths. As for their child, she's grown to be healthy, strong, smart, and yet caring. She's also been through forbidden love, but she's been through more. Bullying, over-protection, and friendship losses have been inflicted on her almost everyday. But now, she develops a smile now that she has a friend and her family of Ishvalan blood. She's tomboy, quiet, and a sweet individual. May she continue the life in which her parents gave her..._

In case you've forgotten, my name is Serenity Hickman. I don't know how you can forget; my name isn't that forgettable. Yep. I'm still here in this godforsaken town in which we call Central. This place is full of people who you can't trust and there are those who are cool to talk to, but that's a rarity. There is nothing new that happened to me though. Don't believe me? I have been out alone, playing with Dex, hanging with Taylor, getting my late calls from Envy, and being his sex toy. So, everything has been the same two years later. But this is coming from me. What's new in general is that the Elric brothers got their bodies back, Ling is the emperor of Xing now, and Mustang lost his sight. I don't know how he did, but what I do know is that he's going to get help by a man named Tim Marcoh. I just really hope that Mustang will go through it with no problems at all. Anyway, my Ishvalan family is moving here to Central just to be closer to me. It's awesome for them to move here and live in the same town as I do. I would like to live with them, but I'm actually looking for an apartment for me to live in. Taylor and the people of the military are helping me look for one. So far, there is none that I that like to stay in. Despite that I didn't find one yet, I know that there is one that I'll enjoy staying in.

I'm outside of the Command Center waiting for Taylor to get here. Apparently, she called me earlier telling me that there are some people she wants me to meet. I wouldn't be surprised if they hate me as well. I am so used to and over this hatred in Central. It started from the Ishvalan Civil War to the living of the mixed breed. It just doesn't stop. If it does, then I'll be happy to hear that, but it still lingers. After a good fifteen minutes of waiting, Taylor shows up with three people; two are girls and one is a boy. As I observe them, I see that their eyes aren't filled with animosity whatsoever. If their eyes are like that, I wonder if meeting them will go well. "Hey, Serenity, how are feeling?" Taylor asks. "I'm doing fine I guess." I answer her. "Well, that's good enough." Taylor approves my mood, "Serenity, this is Maci, Bayrose, and Dale. They actually wanted to meet you." "Oh. R-Really?" I question. "Yes." a girl with short black hair and glasses answers. "We have heard about you, but most of them were pretty offensive to you, of course." a girl with curly blonde hair told me. "When Taylor told us about you, we wanted to come here and meet you for ourselves." the guy said. "So what Taylor told us is true. You really are a cool person." the blonde girl states. "Thanks..." I thank her, "...but I don't I know you guys that well for you to say that I'm nice..." "Yes we do. Taylor told us all about you." the blonde-haired girl disagrees, "My name is Bayrose and if you need anything, you can talk to me." "Same here and I'm Maci." the short haired girl introduces herself. "And I'm Dale. Good to meet you, Serenity." the guy introduces himself as well. " Nice to meet you guys too." I greet to all three of them. "Now that we got that out of the way..." Dale changes the subject, "...what are we going to do today?" "I'm not sure." I answer, "I've almost been around every single place in Central that I ran out places to go." "Well, we'll just walk then." Taylor decides. "Oh I forgot to tell you guys." I remember. "What is it, Serenity?" Maci asks. "I have to help my family move into Central. I can't hang out for too long." I reply. "We can still hang out." Bayrose says, "We can help you help your family." "Will you?" I question. "Of course." Taylor answers. I smile at them and say, "Thanks, guys. I really do appreciate that."

As we walk around Central, we joked around for the longest. We haven't gotten into any serious conversations whatsoever. When Bayrose told her opinion about boys, it caused her to ask me a question. "Hey, Serenity, I know you have boy problems so, I want to ask is it hard really hard to stay single all your life?" she asks. "Now that we're friends, I can tell you that I DO have a boyfriend." I answer her question. "You do?" Dale questions. "Yeah, but he's not like the guys of Central really. He's different." I summarize very little about Envy. "So, what's he like?" Bayrose asks. "I really don't want to talk about him that much..." I tell her. "Why not?" Maci questions. "I rather not say." I retort. "Just so you know: if he's treating you like shit, you can talk to me." Dale says. "Okay, Dale." I chuckle. As much as they want to know, I don't want to tell them about Envy. If I were to talk about Envy with someone, it would be with Taylor because she met him. Maci, Dale, and Bayrose haven't met Envy or any homunculus unless they've seen Bradley in the flesh. It would also include some unnecessary questions...

The more we walked, we got closer to the train station. Since we were over there, we went inside to wait for my Ishvalan family. We sit on a bench and wait patiently on them. Taylor sits beside me on the bench and she asks, "Why won't you tell them about Envy?" "I just don't want to, Taylor." I reply, "And don't talk to me about this please." "First of all, I just mentioned it, so we are going to talk about it." Taylor gives me the "dead serious" face. I let out a sigh and I begin to give my explanation. "Do you remember how you joked about how Envy looked when you met him?"

"Yes. Why?"

"The fact is he tried to kill you. I don't want him to kill my new friends because of what they say. And of course he despises humans so..."

Taylor chuckles at my reasoning. "I'm saying this because you're my best friend. Did you even think in your damn brain that your homunculus isn't going to harm us? You should've figured this out years ago, Serenity. He won't harm us because he likes you. As much he doesn't give a rat's ass about us, he won't do anything to us." I didn't say another word after what she told me; all I did was nod. I understand perfectly, but I'm still afraid. If Envy were to met Bayrose, Maci, and Dale, what's going to happen to them? I just don't know...

With all of this nonsense swimming in my head, I feel a hand touch my shoulder. I look up to see my little cousin, Jawdan, in front of me with a smile on his face. When I saw his smile, I smile back him and give him a nice, gentle hug. "You look sad, Serenity. What's wrong?" Jawdan asks. "I'm fine. Just a little tired." I retort, "Anyway, how are you feeling?" "Good." he answers. Maci scoots towards me and she asks, "This is your cousin?" "He's so adorable." Bayrose compliments him. As Maci and Bayrose continue to admire his cuteness, Jawdan plays shy and hides behind his mother. "Now look what you did." Dale starts blaming the girls, "You guys scared the poor kid." "But he's so cute!" Maci and Bayrose squeal in unison. My aunt laughs at the girls' admiration of Jawdan's adorableness. "I see that you've made a few new friends, Serenity." Aunt Bahira observes. "Yeah. Taylor introduced them to me not too long ago." I tell her. "You did a good thing, Taylor." Aunt Bahira obliges Taylor's good deed, "You're a good friend to my niece." "You're welcome, Mrs. Jafri." Taylor acknowledges my aunt's thanks. "Aunt Bahira, we got some extra hands on deck." I notify, "My friends insisted on helping you guys move in." "That's excellent news." she says with excitement, "Your uncle and the others do need some help with our stuff." "So, what're we waiting on?" Dale questions, "Let's get started."

My friends, family, and I helped each other gather the belongings to the new house my family is staying in. It took us hours, but we managed to get everything inside the house. In the middle of unpacking, Dale and Bayrose had to return home; Taylor, Maci, and I stuck around to help a little more. I was given the task by my uncle, Fadil, to put the books onto the bookshelf. As I place them there, one book caught my attention. It was a notebook that had a very familiar name written on the cover. The name is Balqis Azimi. "This is Mother's journal." I realized. "Your mother?" Maci questions as she walks to my right. "Yes." I answer. I examine the notebook a little further and I see that the black was losing its color and the cover was beginning to tear. I flip through the pages and almost every one of them is written on. Taylor walks over to look at the journal as well. "The way it looks is proof that there was so much going on during that war." Taylor comments. I swallow trying to keep myself from crying, but one tear slides down my cheek. Taylor takes out her hanky and wipes the tear away. "You can have that, you know." I hear the voice of my aunt behind me. The three of us turn around and see Aunt Bahira standing by the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. "I know that you would like to learn about your mom, so it's yours now." her calm voice says. I hold the journal tightly against my chest know that this is also what's left of my mother. "Oh and I have another journal to give you." Aunt Bahira looks in the box filled with books searching for the journal that she mentioned. Once she found the journal, she hands it to me. I take the brown notebook and place it on top of Mother's. "Before we left from our last visit, a gentleman by the name of Armstrong gave this to me. He said to give it to you, but we were in a hurry to leave." she explains. "Thank you, Aunt Bahira." I thank her. We bring each other into an embrace and I hug my aunt a bit tighter just for Mother. We release each other from our emotional embrace. My aunt smiles at me as I hold my parents' notebook in my arms. You young ladies can leave if you like." she suggests, "There's not a lot of stuff to unpack now." "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow maybe." I say to her before leaving with Taylor and Maci.

Taylor and Maci soon left me and returned back to their homes. As I walk back, I hold the journals tightly under my arm, so that way they won't fall from my grasp. With these, I'll get to know more about my deceased parents and the obstacles of their relationship. Knowing theirs and mine, they both have hard times. But the human and the homunculus was almost like my worst nightmare. Somehow, I manage to pull through along Envy. I make it back to the Command Center and head to my room. Since I came back pretty late, there wasn't much to do other than to eat dinner, shower, and go to bed. After doing all of that, I return to my room and relax with Dex. While I pet Dex's tired head, the phone in my room rings. I reach over for the phone and place it by my ear. "Hello?" I greet through the phone. "Hey, Serenity." the voice of the homunculus replies.

"Hey, Envy. What's up?"

"How long will it take you to find this apartment? I'm getting bored just by waiting for you to find one."

"Trust me, love. As soon as I find one, I'll tell you the place, floor, and room number. Then, you can be around me for as long as you like."

"Can you be quick about?" Envy asks me. The way he's talking to me makes me laugh. It may sound like an impatient homunculus on the phone, but it's more of a homunculus missing me. Envy might not say it, but I know that's what he's saying. The way he sounds is so adorable. "How about this? I'll go search tomorrow with help and be sure to find one then." I planned.

"Just as long as you find one."

"Envy, don't rush me."

"Fine. Whatever."

"I promise to find an apartment as soon as I can. I promise." I say to Envy before hanging up. I allowed Dex to sleep on my bed for tonight then pull the covers over my body. Before I went to I look to my dresser and look at the journals stacked on top of each other. Pretty soon, I'll looking into what my parents have witnessed when they were living. The more I know, the more I'll understand...


	2. Chapter 2

"_Please read my diary, look through my things and figure me out."_

_-Unknown_

As much as I tried last night, I didn't get a good night's rest. The reason is because my family is now living in Central and I have my parents' journals. But I'm mostly into the journals. I don't know my parents enough to know why they've risked their lives other than the fact that they want me to live. With all of their notes implanted on these pages, I'll know everything. Before heading out of the bedroom to eat breakfast, I wake up Dex and then put some clothes on. After combing and brushing my hair, I take the journals. "Come on, boy. We're heading out." Dex walks to my side ready to exit to room to have breakfast as well I am. "You must be real hungry huh?" I question Dex, "Don't worry. We're on our way."

Dex and I arrive at the dining hall right on time for breakfast to begin. I got myself what they call a Skinny Omelet which had tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese, and green bell peppers. All of these veggies were inside an egg white. In my opinion, this is the best dish to have for breakfast. As I eat, I look at the books. They were calling my name wanting me to read the words written inside. It's not like I'm going to forget, but I'm utterly anxious to hear the voice of my parents. So, I take the black notebook which is my Father's notebook first. I open it up to the first page and read the date. At the end of the date was the year 1901. That was the exact same year the Ishvalan child was accidentally shot and killed. I might know what happened after that trigger besides it becoming a massive war. I begin to read...

_Two weeks ago, I was commanded by Furher King Bradley to be stationed at a military occupation in Ishval. I happily oblige his command and left Amestris. I may have been ecstatic to be placed in such a historical town, but the Ishvalans thought completely differently. They disagree on the fact that the military is stationing in their home. Most of them were protesting and cursing us all. Just as I thought it was bad, it got extremely worse. One of our soldiers accidentally shot and killed a young Ishvalan child. As quick as this predicament happened, it reached to our region in seconds. I got the news from Private Ward and as General, I must inform the Furher... _

3rd pov (Raphael)

After hearing the news about the accidental murder, General Raphael Hickman rushes to the Furher's office to tell him as well. He arrives to the doors and opens them with the sound of a slam hitting the walls. "Your Excellency, there has been a problem in Owens' post!" the General shouts. "I know, General." Bradley replies calmly, "I was just informed by the Lieutenant."

"What do we do, sir!? The anger of the Ishvalans will escalate and it might cause a riot!"

"There will be a meeting discussing this matter, General. If you be there, I'll acknowledge every question you ask me."

"But, Furher, what about..."

"The soldier who caused the murder will be coming as well. I'll be sure to send someone to bring you in. You're dismissed, General."

"Yes,sir." Raphael leaves the Furher's office and makes his way back to his post. As he walks back, a really bad feeling begins to loom over Raphael. "Even though the Furher may seem calm about this whole thing, something about this isn't going to begin or end well." he tells himself. How will this turn out with the Ishvalans already hating them and the life of an Ishvalan child is lost? This is going to be one enigma to Raphael and one simple answer to the Furher. Before returning to his assigned spot, a quarrel between three soldiers caught Raphael's attention. "Do you have any idea what you've done, Owens?!" one soldier angrily asks. "What do you mean?" a man by the name of Owens questions, "I haven't done anything wrong at all." "Your lies won't help out of this, Sargent!" another soldier yells at him, "I was assigned to the same post as you. Don't you think that I didn't see a thing!" The argument was beginning to get heated up until Raphael shakes off the stress and stops it. "At ease, soldiers!" Raphael's voice boomed around the room, "There's no need to holler at Owens for his horrible deed!" "General Hickman!" the soldiers became alert by the General's presence, "Sorry if our yelling disturbed you, sir!"

"There's no need to apologize, but still, what Owens has done should not concern you as much as it concerns the higher ranks. Now, return to your posts!"

"Yes, sir!" After obeying the General's command, the soldiers quickly return to their designated spots. All except for Owens. Raphael walks up to the accused soldier and asks, "Are you alright, Owens?" "I'm absolutely fine, sir!" Owens answers as he salutes.

"No need to be alert, Sargent. I shouted because I had to stop the others from having an altercation with you."

"So, you know that it wasn't me, sir?"

"I was told that this happened at your post, but I was never told that it was you who killed that child."

Owens sighs in relief knowing that there was someone in the military who knows that it wasn't him for sure. Even so, it was only one person ; it wasn't enough to prove that he's innocent. There is something he can do right? Just by observing the nervousness that Owens is going through, Raphael notifies him about the meeting that will commence soon. "There will be a meeting discussing about what happened at your post." Raphael mentions, "The Furher expects us to be there and acknowledge our questions and opinions. I promise to help you state your side of the story." "Thank you, sir." Owens thanks the General.

_...The accusations have really gotten to this poor man. Judging to how he looks, it seems that he didn't really do it. But, I'm not certain that if he did it or not. I only know that the child was killed at his post. Nothing more. If I convince them to investigate this, then they'll know with a great amount of clues that it was or wasn't Owens. As promised, I went to this meeting along with Sargent Owens. After the meeting commenced, we got into the topic about the "accidental murder". Even though I feel the flow of confidence within me, something wasn't right about this atmosphere..._

The meeting began by looking into the accidental shooting in which they say Owens was part of. Just as quick as it started, it quickly got heated once they began to question Owens. "So, Owens, can you explain what you've done at your post?" the Furher asked. Before Owens can answer for himself, a Colonel jumps in (not Mustang). "No! He can't explain anything!" the Colonel shouts, "He can't because he knows that he's done it!" "But how do you know for sure?" Raphael questions, "You weren't even there." "And neither were you, General!" the soldier shouts back.

"I know, but haven't you figured something out yet, Colonel!? Weren't you inform that it happened at his post!?"

"General, stop trying to protect the Sargent from his crime! I know that you were told that Owens shot that child, so why are you trying to help him save his status?"

"No one has told me that piece of information! And I'm helping him because I'm hoping to investigate this that way we'll know if it was Owens or not!"

"Your protection won't help at all, General. You're the only one who thinks that the Sargent is innocent. What about the other ranks in this room?"

"Gentlemen, relax. We're going to conclude this right now." the Furher stops our quarreling.

_...Hoping that my words got through, I looked at the Furher. He asked everyone whether if Owens is guilty or not and all of the higher ranks disagreed with my decision by saying that Owens is guilty. And just like that, Sargent Owens was court marshaled. I'm extremely shocked that my efforts of speaking for the Sargent didn't help at all. Colonel Harris was right and I hate to admit that. As General, I'm meant to speak out my decisions and have them looked over as promised. But, they were taken and shoved into the ground. I'm awfully sorry, Owens. I've failed at saving your status. I hope you find it deep in your heart to forgive me. As for Ishval, it remains unknown on what our next move is. But what I do know is that it won't be a wise decision at all..._

1st pov (Serenity)

After reading the first few pages of my father's notebook, I understood how shocked he was when he tried to explain what should be done and the choices he made has been thrown away like garbage. And this happened by one bullet. "This man Owens was court marshaled in the blink of an eye and Dad tried to..." It was hard for me to put everything together. My dad was General and the military didn't even treat him like one. That's bullshit to its fullest! I sigh releasing a huge build up within me. "I have to look into this a little more later." I close the notebook, place it on top of the other, and grabbed them both. Before going out, I tell Dex that we're leaving and he followed me out of the dining hall.

As we walk down the hall, the problem that one bullet caused continues to run around in my brain. It's hard to believe that the man was court marshaled...by one coincidental shot. I mean I've heard about the trigger of the Ishvalan Civil War, but not like this. Despite all of that, its just the beginning of knowing about my deceased parents. Anyway, I've much more things to do other than to marvel about this trigger. I might as well resume my search for an apartment because my homunculus is missing me to death. I do need to have as much help as possible, so I'm going to call up some of my friends. Yesterday, I've exchanged numbers with my new friends before arriving to the train station. I got to the phone room, picked a phone, and I put in Dale's number first. After putting the numbers in, the phone rings from the other line. It rang for a good moment until someone answers. "Hello?" a female's voice answers. "Hi. Is Dale home?" I ask. "Who wants to know?" she asks me. "Serenity..." I reply. "Well, Dale is not home, so make it easy for me to not hear your dirty voice and hang up!" the girl shouts disrespectfully. "Wow! Rude!" I yell back at her. "No shit, you stick in the mud!" she argued back at me. Before she can say something else, she was stopped by Dale, "Take care of your friend, Dale. If I see her, she's going to get what for!" "Joyce, she lives at Central Command." Dale tells her, "She'll break you in ten seconds. She won't even break a sweat." "Thank you for the compliment, Dale." I thank him. "No problem." he says, "So, why did you call?"

"Well, I called because I thought you can help me go on a search."

"What're we looking for?"

"An apartment for me. I'll be leaving Central Command soon."

"I'll be happy to help you out, Serenity. I'll help in anyway I can."

"Thanks, Dale. Come to the Command Center at 2:00 pm."

"Alright."

"See you soon then."

"See you." Dale says and hangs up the phone. "Now that I got Dale's help, maybe I'll call Taylor and see if she wants to help." "Okay. I'll help." I hear Taylor's voice and it startled me almost making my heart jump out of my chest. "Taylor, I didn't know y-you..." I stutter. "I walked over here and a Brigadier General let me in." she explains shortly, "Anyway, I stopped by to see how you're doing with those books."

"I actually read one entry so far. I looked into my Dad's journal during breakfast."

"Really? What happened?" Taylor questions. As much as I want to tell her, I can't say it when there are military personnel walking around. What happens in the military stays with the military. I'll have to tell her in private. "Come with me and I'll tell you." I told her. "That's fine." she replies.

We got to my bedroom and I close the door behind me. "Is it that private?" Taylor questions. "Knowing the military, everything they do is very secretive." I answer, "Apparently, I now know that my father's title as General was all a lie." "What exactly do you mean?" she asks.

"My dad wanted to look into a soldier's "accidental kill" a little further. He was told only that the child was killed at the soldier's post. So, what he wanted to do was to investigate it so it'll be known if the soldier was innocent or not. But the higher ranks shoved his decisions into the ground and they court marshaled the accused soldier. Long story short, the military didn't treat Dad as General."

"That's weird. With you Dad as General, should they at least think about what he says and see what they can do?"

"My question exactly. I thought they look up to him for the best choices, but then they dump them like trash."

"Sounds fishy to me. Do you know the soldier's name by any chance?"

"Well, he didn't mention a first name, but he kept calling him Owens."

"Owens? That's Bayrose's last name."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but she never mentioned anyone in her family that has been in the military."

"Okay." A man with the last named Owens and has the exact same last name as Bayrose. I should question her when the time is right. "So, are you ready to go on this search?" I ask. "Of course." Taylor answers, "I'll do my best to help you find the place you'll like slash your little love nest." "Taylor..." I chuckle at her joke. "Who are we kidding?" she questions, "The two of you will be on top of each other once you get it." As she said that, I couldn't help, but to blush. Taylor—she can be a handful of a friend. But she's awesome.


End file.
